This invention relates to stents for choanal atresia.
Choanal atresia is a condition where babies are born without an opening at the back of the nose. The condition is treated by creating an opening for breathing. In order to maintain the openings, stents in the form of hollow tubes are inserted in the nose. Many tubes have been designed by different surgeons, but they are inadequate, traumatic and most importantly unstable.
According to the present invention, there is provided a choanal atresia stent. The stent consists of two hollow tubes bridged together towards one end by a small, flexible transverse tube. The transverse tube is rigidly attached to only one of the long tubes. A strong thread attached to the inner walls of both long tubes threads through the long tubes and the transverse tube, keeping them all rigidly connected together.
The long tubes taper off towards their distal portions to end with clips.
The stent also comprises of two fine, flexible guides, which serve to be passed through the nose and brought out the mouth for attachment to the hollow tubes by the clips. This allows the hollow tubes to be pulled through the nose such that the transverse tube is arrested from further movement by the back of the nose.
Also included are two short hollow tubes rigidly connected by a transverse tube. The inside of the hollow tubes are grooved. The short tubes would slide over the long, hollow tubes for fixation at the nasal end. Fixation is achieved by an adjustable clasp mechanism consisting of concentric raised ridges on the long tubes that engage the grooves on the inside of the short hollow tubes.
This design solves the problem of instability, which may reduce the incidence of restenosis in the newly established airway. The stent is also easily inserted and reduces the length of the surgical procedure by eliminating time spent in fashioning complicated and fiddly stents for every case.